The Bank of England was unanimous in its decision to maintain its
record-low interest rates earlier this month, minutes showed on
Wednesday.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 9-0 to
keep its key lending rate at 0.50 percent, where it has stood
since March 2009 to stimulate growth, amid Britain's
strengthening economic recovery.

The MPC was also united in keeping the bank's quantitative easing
stimulus amount at £375 billion ($636 billion, 469 billion
euros), according to minutes from the June 4-5 gathering.

BoE governor Mark Carney had hinted last week that the bank could
lift rates sooner than expected, prompting analysts to price in
an increase by the end of the year.

That is in contrast to the European Central Bank, which launched
radical and unprecedented easing measures earlier this month to
bolster fragile eurozone growth and ward off the threat of
deflation.

BoE policymakers added that they were "somewhat surprised" that
markets had attached a "relatively low probability" to an
interest rate hike before the end of 2014.

"The (British) economy was starting to return to normal. Part of
that normalisation would be a rise in bank rate at some point,"
the minutes read.

"The precise timing of the rise would depend on the outlook for
inflation. That, in turn, would depend on the data flow, and in
particular what that implied for the degree of slack, the
prospect s for its absorption, and the broader outlook for
wages."

The BoE has already stated that it will not consider raising
interest rates until all the spare capacity, or slack, in the
economy has been absorbed.

"All members agreed that, in the absence of other inflationary
pressures, it would be necessary to see more evidence of slack
being absorbed before an increase in bank rate would be
warranted," the minutes added.

They also noted that there was "considerable uncertainty around
the current level of slack, and a range of views on the
committee."

Last Friday, Carney had declared that the first rise in interest
rates could be delivered sooner than expected.

"There's already speculation about the exact timing of the first
rate hike and the decision is becoming more balanced," Carney had
said.

"It could happen sooner than markets currently expect."

Some experts are calling on the bank to use other tools at its
disposal to help dampen soaring British house prices,
particularly in London.

Meanwhile, official data showed Tuesday that Britain's 12-month
inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent in May, which was the lowest
level for four and a half years.

The latest figures mark the sixth month in a row when the rate
has been at or below the BoE's 2.0-percent target.